When we talk about social commerce, the two terms – social media and e-commerce instantly strike our minds. And rightly so. Social commerce is the integration of e-commerce in social media platforms, and it is also the next big thing every business will prioritize.
And we say you get started before everyone does. If you are an e-commerce brand and sell products online, then you probably know the functionality, hassles, and benefits of e-commerce. And now, there is a new way of marketing – social commerce.
In this blog, we will tell you all about social commerce, and why you should introduce social commerce strategy into your e-commerce business.
Why Introduce Social Commerce Into E-Commerce Marketing?
In today’s times, the shelf value of new inventions and discoveries is comparatively lower than what it used to be. People are looking for new things to explore and new technologies to rely on.
There used to be a time when shopping online used to seem impossible, but in the past years, we have seen not only a terrific boom and acceptance of e-commerce as a concept but also online shopping becoming extremely mainstream. People trust e-commerce stores, and that’s something you can use as a brand to your benefit.
Here is why you should introduce social commerce into your e-commerce marketing strategy.
It Widens Your Customer Base
Setting up a social shop is a great way to widen your customer base. Social commerce helps brands to sell their products through social media. This means your audience can be as wide as you want, and you can effectively reach a much larger audience. You can run social media campaigns and contests and directly use the generated content in your social shop.
A Great Strategy To Build Trust
Gaining brand trust is the most important strategy in building any e-commerce brand. A social shop can gain the confidence of customers in a much better way than any other strategy. You can use user-generated reviews and visual content like images and videos as social proof and build a credible reputation for your brand. Brands can create an ecosystem of transparency and genuine customer feedback to keep customers coming back for more.
Makes The Shopping Process Easy
Social commerce has many amazing benefits, but the best one has to be the smooth shopping process it provides. It is the most convenient way to shop because social commerce makes the shopping process faster and smoother. Many platforms provide features such as the buy button and in-app checkout; social commerce removes any distractions and lengthy and unnecessary steps for the shoppers.
How To Introduce Social Commerce Into E-commerce Marketing?
Now that you know the benefits of integrating social commerce into your e-commerce marketing strategy, let us talk about how to introduce social commerce into your e-commerce marketing strategy.
Many social media platforms allow users to set up social shops on social media and let you sell products directly through social media. Other than that, many e-commerce tools out there help brands sell their products socially rather than through social media.
Instagram
Being the top social media platform of the decade, people use Instagram avidly to explore and search for brands and products.
By setting up an Instagram shop for your brand, you can invite an unmatchable audience and eventually increase conversions.
There are many ways you can you Instagram’s social commerce feature, such as the Shopping Tags enables businesses to tag their products in posts and stories. This is a more direct way.
You can also sell products through the ‘Shop Tab.’ This is a separate space where shoppers can browse and buy products that are listed by the brand itself or collaborators.
E-Commerce Tools
Another way to introduce social commerce into your e-commerce strategy is by relying on e-commerce tools like Taggshop. You can use this highly functional tool to create a shoppable feed of UGC or social content through a singular source like a hashtag or user handle and attach it to your e-commerce website.
With this way of social commerce, you get to flaunt your social media presence and attract more customers to trust your brand.
Over To You
E-Commerce is still a big thing in the market world, but as it is said, change is the only constant. It is important to keep constantly evolving and changing your brand’s implementation strategies. It is important to know where your e-commerce business is in terms of growth.
Social commerce is that new big thing every industry is hopping upon because of its unmatchable benefits and scope in the future.
By now, you are well aware of the functionalities of social commerce, and we hope this blog helps you implement it in your strategies.
If you are a journalist, chances are you have a lot of deadlines, work on a tight schedule, and looking for a way to make your research process easier and faster. HARO might be your best option if you need high-quality sources to complete your story as soon as possible.
As listed on HARO’s website, media outlets using their services include Reuters, Time, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, ABC, and others. As you can see, many impressive legacy media names are using this platform.
But how does HARO work precisely, and how can it help journalists? Let’s find out more.
Crash Course: What Is HARO?
HARO is short for “Help a Reporter Out” – an online service for journalists to get the necessary feedback for their news coverage and for experts to get valuable media coverage. This platform is owned by Cision, a global provider of PR and marketing intelligence.
HARO is helpful for journalists because it enables them to connect with experts in the fields relevant to their reporting. This platform connects stories with sources to save effort on both sides, so both industry experts and journalists get the most out of it. It’s a win-win.
How HARO Works
All you have to do to start with HARO is sign-up, provide all the necessary information about yourself, and you are ready to go.
Once your account on HARO is all set up, you will be able to post a query and wait for the responses to arrive. Sources receive queries via email three times a day. Once relevant sources receive and see your question, they can contact you and send you a pitch. From there, you can decide which ones you want to use and which you’ll toss away.
HARO was initially created for journalists, but now bloggers, content writers, and influencers can also use it to get in touch with expert sources. This platform is also useful for brands since they want to connect with reputable media outlets to get their name out there.
If you’re a journalist and are still unsure about this service, you can always learn more about HARO’s pros and cons to make an informed decision. For this article, we’ve listed seven key ways HARO service can assist you in your journalistic endeavors.
Companies are always looking for ways to gain high-quality backlinks to their websites since it is one of the best ways to grow their business by ranking better in search engines. That’s why businesses won’t risk putting their company’s goals in jeopardy. Also, getting covered by highly trusted, established media outlets helps them reach wider audiences and advance their brand image and awareness.
That is why people answering queries always try their best to provide you with valuable information. HARO also has strict standards and a vetting process regarding sources, so you can be assured that your journalistic integrity stays intact.
According to their website, sources must have proven competence in a topic relevant to the query they are responding to. Furthermore, they must thoroughly clarify why they are a subject matter expert before making their pitch if it is not obvious from their title or the company they work for.
Sometimes you need answers to specific questions. It can be challenging to reach out to someone new with these questions or know whether any of your existing contacts have the information you need. That’s why sending out a HARO query might be your best ticket to finding what you need to complete your task.
No matter how peculiar your question might be, you’ll likely find someone who can answer it quickly since many users are constantly looking for journalistic queries.
As previously mentioned, HARO benefits both sides of the aisle – journalists and sources get the best out of their cooperation. Journalists get more insight into their topics, while company leaders raise brand awareness by gaining media coverage.
HARO is also beneficial for you as a journalist to build relevant relationships inside the industry. Getting in contact with expert sources gives you an opportunity to network and find amazing people you can cooperate with on future projects.
By building long-lasting and trusting relationships with people who provide you with unique quotes and information, you can gain access to the best industry news whenever you need it.
Builds Authority and Credibility
Readers want well-researched and authentic content. It’s always a good idea to back your story up with facts. With the sea of information out there and countless media sources publishing new stories daily, it is essential to stand out and position yourself as a relevant source. That’s where HARO can help you.
You build up your journalistic authority and credibility with relevant quotations from industry thought leaders.
Various Options to Choose From
HARO helps journalists connect to more sources than they would otherwise have access to. You’ll probably receive at least 50 pitches in the first few hours when you send out a query. The number of pitches can go up to hundreds on the same day if you work for an outlet with a high domain ranking.
Sometimes, that can be overwhelming, as it takes a lot of time to sift through all the pitches and pick out the best ones. Overall though, it is good to have multiple options. That way, you can filter out pitches based on their relevance and get the one that works the best for your story.
Budget Friendly
Using HARO, journalists can create an account and get answers to their queries without spending a fortune.
If you’re on a tight budget, getting uncostly access to quality sources is the way to go.
Journalism is a perfect mix of research and writing abilities. However, if you are someone who likes to spend more time crafting and perfecting your articles, HARO is a great way to save up some of your precious time.
This platform allows you to spend more time writing and less time looking for sources. That way, you can dedicate your efforts to the thing you love doing most without that much hassle.
Wrapping It Up
HARO opens you up to a large pool of opportunities and perspectives from all walks of life. Remember to stay critical and examine all sources well to find the right fit.
Now that you know about HARO and all the benefits it can provide you, you can upgrade your journalistic skills and provide your readers with the best sources and well-researched, thoughtful stories.
Entrepreneurship demands substantial time and focus. There are so many responsibilities to take care of that it’s easy to fall into a “set it and forget it” mindset when it comes to your website. Unfortunately, this is a quick way to lose the attention of potential clients and customers.
Think of your website as a digital business card. This is the first stop for someone interested in the services or products you offer. Additionally, search engines favor websites that are well maintained and up to date. That means you’re likely to appear higher in search results for keywords that pertain to your business.
If you’re in a highly competitive industry (think real estate or sales), it’s essential to put your best foot forward. The more clicks you get, the more likely you are to drum up new business. Ready to get to work? Here are eight quick ways to improve your website today.
1. Update Your Design to Reflect Current Trends
Like anything else, web trends come and go as technology improves. The design of your website should reflect today’s style.
This should include a user-friendly navigation bar and several different pages or sections that explain who you are, the services you provide, and the best way to get in touch. A digital portfolio that demonstrates your expertise is also helpful to have.
While an eye-catching color palette or custom graphics are beneficial, the most important part of website design is having clean and concise formatting.
2. Start a Blog
Blogging is no longer considered a diary for YouTubers and other online personalities. Maintaining a high-quality blog with relevant industry information is one of the best forms of digital marketing.
According to search engine data, having a blog on your website increases your chances of ranking higher by a staggering 434%.
While it may feel like a daunting task, use your expert knowledge to produce content that will inform. Average blog posts fall somewhere between 1,000 and 2,000 words, but there are many ways to simplify the process. Posts in the form of lists perform well, making it easy to provide results-driven content.
3. Take Advantage of SEO Practices
SEO stands for “search engine optimization.” Although the term focuses on website traffic, SEO is customer-centric. It enables us to better understand what people are searching for and the types of content they prefer to engage with.
Although you can hire an SEO professional to assist with keyword research and analytics, there are several free and low-cost tools available. Keywords are phrases that people search for if they’re browsing businesses like yours. Using the right keywords thoughtfully will help your website rank higher in a search.
Be sure to end each blog post with a powerful CTA (call-to-action). This is a short phrase that encourages your audience to take a certain step. Whether this is making an appointment or a purchase, it typically includes a clickable link. Most marketing professionals also encourage making your CTA easy to find with bold fonts, contrast colors, or a button.
4. Include Visual Multimedia and Tools
Gone are the days of long blocks of text and a simple stock photo. Websites have come a long way, and today, they’re interactive and highly dependent on multimedia.
Whether your industry lends itself to video or other forms of imagery, look for opportunities to create an engaging experience for your website visitors.
For example, a real estate agent may choose to incorporate a user-friendly commission calculator. A retailer may use interactive shopping cart buttons to engage with customers browsing for items.
5. Check for Responsiveness and Speed
Slow websites can instantly distract from even the greatest content. If users find it difficult to move across the various sections of your website, they’re more likely to close the browser. Click through your pages and ensure they’re responsive and loading in a timely manner.
In addition to engaging people instantly, a faster website will appear higher in search engines. Again, modern technology makes it imperative to keep up with trends and usefulness.
6. Make It Mobile Friendly
We all spend more time on our phones than ever before. When people visit your website from a mobile device, can they navigate with ease? If not, you risk losing their attention before they even find the information they need.
A professional web designer can work with you to create a website that has the right formatting across the board, regardless of device type. If you’re looking to do it on your own, there are templates available through providers such as WordPress, Weebly, and Wix.
7. Capture Visitor Information
Who are your visitors? What are they looking for? How can you help them?
These are important questions to answer because it will impact your business, let alone the content you provide.
Give your website visitors a way to stay in touch. For example, request an email address with the promise of special offers or business updates. This can be in the form of a pop-up or a designated box at the bottom of the page.
Don’t forget to also include links to your various social media pages. This is another great way to stay in touch with your customers or clients.
8. Monitor Your Competitors
Keep an eye on the competition to ensure you’re offering the ideal experience for your customers (both on and off your website).
Identify which companies are like yours and visit their websites from time to time to uncover any new tactics or features. Although you want to stand out, it’s important to know that you’re keeping up with other businesses in your industry.
Put Your Best Foot Forward
After you’ve revamped your website, it’s important to maintain it. Set a date to review it once per month. This can be a simple run-through to ensure all of your links are working and loading times are optimal. In addition, set an annual review date to freshen your content and build a plan for blog posts and other additions to your website.
Today, businesses are looking for innovative ways to be more competitive and keep growing. Keeping costs low and boosting sales are the two mantras that are being adopted by corporate honcho’s worldwide.
One of the rising trends that are being increasingly adopted in the current scenario is remote working. While remote working has its challenges in terms of accountability and maintaining an organization’s work culture, it promises immense benefits if adopted correctly. Being available to guide the team members, similar to a physical office is one of the best ways to go ahead, if you want to set up a remote workforce.
What’s also making news in these competitive times is the use of virtual assistants to manage the small, recurring but crucial tasks that take up too much time for business owners and managers.
Virtual assistants handle small, recurring, and crucial tasks to increase productivity. Moreover, hiring a virtual assistant is less expensive as compared to hiring an employee. You can also save a lot on overhead costs since they are not required to be present physically in an office.
Many companies offer virtual assistant services, making it difficult to choose the professionals who are best for your business from such a sizable pool.
In this blog, we’ve compiled a list of the best virtual assistant service providers to assist you in your search. But first, let’s define who a virtual assistant is and what their job role entails.
A virtual assistant is a trained professional who works from the comfort of their own home or office. It’s the same as hiring an employee but with far more flexibility.
Depending on their and your schedules, they may finish their work during regular business hours or at different times throughout the day. They can complete several tasks for your company. They may also assist with more complex tasks typically completed by professionals across industries like marketing or finance.
Your needs will determine the services a virtual assistant offers to your business. Almost all virtual assistants are capable of doing administrative and general tasks.
Virtual assistants can perform the following tasks, among many others:
Manage inbox
Manage calendar
Schedule appointments
Data entry
Online research
Coordinate projects
Customer support
Manage tools like Dropbox and Google Drive
Organize to-do lists
Maintain client communications
Assist in event planning
Schedule appointments and meetings
Maintain Databases
Reply to customer queries
Maintain records for eCommerce
Update and maintain CRM
Create presentations
Check daily reports /performance parameters set
Record minutes of the meeting
Support HR Functions
Arrange gifts for clients
Coordinate between various departments
Record expenses
Their services are simple:
You hire a company.
You gain access to an assistant who can complete multiple tasks on your behalf.
You’ll find yourself with much extra time in your workday.
What You Should Know Before Selecting a Virtual Assistant
Be Specific With Expectations
Establish your business’ unique needs first. Often, you are aware that you require a VA but are unsure of their precise purpose beyond a few jobs. Do not fret, though! Over a few weeks, you will find plenty of tasks to take off your to-do list and give to your assistant.
Determine the Qualities You Want
Instead of focusing solely on a candidate’s past employment history, the interview process should comprise questions about how they will respond in various situations.
For example, what would they bring to a team if they were on it?
How would they react if something unexpected happened?
Select a communication method and strategy
Adopting a platform and communication style that you both adhere to is among the most important ways to keep lines of communication open. Communication is essential in any relationship; therefore, establishing a process that works for you is crucial.
Take a Test Run
Since virtual assistants are frequently employed on a month-to-month basis, a trial run or probationary period is simple to set up. A brief test example makes it simple to judge a VA’s attention to detail and critical thinking. The VA can gradually be introduced to routine tasks as well.
Look for someone familiar with your industry
The ideal virtual assistant know that to assist you in connecting with your audience, they must comprehend the nature of your company. Thanks to this understanding, they can learn about your strategy and contribute in the most valuable ways.
Hiring a virtual assistant is quite similar to hiring any other employee you want to add to your team, with a few minor adjustments. Once you establish a process that you and your assistant are clear on, working with a virtual assistant will change your business and allow you the time to focus on tasks that will make you money.
Coming back to the topic at hand, let’s discuss the top virtual assistant companies worldwide.
Wishup is a pioneer in virtual assistance services. It helps entrepreneurs and small business owners focus on their core tasks and grow their businesses, while its virtual assistants take care of all their administrative and everyday tasks.
It hires only the top 1% of all applicants and trains them in over 200 skill sets. Wishup serves 500+ small businesses in the US and has an average service rating of 4.8. It offers Virtual Assistants, Bookkeepers, Software Developers, and Software Testers who work remotely for companies in the US.
It offers the option of full or part-time virtual assistants depending on the clients needs. Hiring a VA is comparatively easy with Wishup; you can get one on board within a day.
Benefits of hiring a Wishup virtual assistant;
Stringent selection process, so you get to work with the top 1% of talent
From its headquarters in the United States, Fancy Hands provides dedicated virtual assistance to clients worldwide. This straightforward and open virtual assistant service is ideal for those who require regular assistance but do not want to deal with the hassle of a lengthy contract.
Fancy Hands offers two different types of requests. One is a Standard request for 20 minutes of work. These requests work best for projects requiring extensive back-and-forth communication or for research.
Aside from that, there are Active requests for ongoing tasks. These requests may be carried over to the following month if not used.
Users can also request repetitive tasks scheduled daily, weekly, monthly, or weekday. In addition, users will receive an email from Fancy Hands one day before the request giving them the option to skip or cancel it.
Like most virtual assistant services, Fancy Hands bills a small monthly fee based on the overall volume of requests; however, the business also provides discounted annual rates. In addition, a dedicated virtual assistant can be requested by users, who will be charged per minute and with whom they can communicate using any tools they choose.
Working with Fancy Hands does come with two drawbacks. First, they charge by the minute for their live requests, and second, that the standard requests more extended than 20 minutes require authorization.
For business executives, Zirtual provides specialized virtual assistants with US bases. Because of its relationship-based business model, customers can build enduring relationships with their dedicated assistant, or ZA.
With Zirtual’s flat-rate, monthly, and annual plans, there is no need for a lengthy commitment.
Because of their administrative and technological expertise, its virtual assistants can handle administrative tasks more effectively and quickly, freeing you up to focus on your expertise. Furthermore, all virtual assistants are American citizens with college degrees who live in the United States.
Based on their prior knowledge, expertise, and interests, Zirtual’s assistants receive additional training in what clients require.
The skills include scheduling and managing meetings, events, travel, PowerPoint presentations, expenses, and invoices. They also include managing social media, web research, content management, content creation, and website upkeep.
The assistants have completed ongoing training in various tools. After the selection process, you can begin using a virtual assistant within a week.
Wrapping up
A virtual assistant is the key if you want to boost business productivity while saving on your hard-earned money and time.
Once you are ready to welcome a virtual professional into your business and life, follow these steps to hire one:
Determine your needs: What do you need assistance with? Create a list of tasks you want to delegate to a virtual assistant.
Select a VA platform: Look over the virtual assistant platforms mentioned above and select one. A free trial is available on some platforms (like Wishup). Register on their website and schedule a free consultation to get started.
Hire your virtual assistant and collaborate with them: Once you’ve done that, you’ll need to explain to them what needs to be done and how you want them to go about doing it. You won’t have to deal with all the hassles associated with onboarding and training because these professionals are already qualified.
No matter how tough the job market may seem, there are always ways you can stand out in the crowd. What if we told you there’s an easy way to make yourself memorable for any job you applied for? If you’re hoping to be the next president or CEO, we might not be able to help. But for the rest of us, getting a personal message in front of the hiring managers is the ticket.
How can we do that? The simple answer is to create your own online resume website. A personal portfolio gives you the ultimate flexibility to choose what to say and how to say it. The best part? Not many job applicants have figured out this trick–or at least, not many have bothered to do it.
Here’s a look at why every job seeker should have their own website. Plus, we’ll look at some things you’ll want on it and how to put one together easily.
Why Should Every Job Seeker Have a Personal Website?
The traditional documents you submit during a job search each have their purposes. First, the cover letter introduces you to your potential employer and makes that vital first impression. Its purpose is to set the hook.
Your resume or CV is also important. It starts reeling that big fish in. It provides the statistics of your training, education, and work background. Beyond an occasional interesting data point, employers can’t tell much about you from either of these documents. What they do, however, is prove whether or not you’re qualified for the position in question.
The problem for hiring managers, then, is obvious. Many jobs have over 100 applicants–some have thousands. Your cover letter and resume will prove or disprove if you meet the qualifications, but it might still mean that dozens or hundreds of applicants are left with you.
Everything left in the hiring process comes down to soft skills–are you really talented, and are you a person people want to work with? How do you show a hiring manager or future coworker that you have real skills? That you can communicate clearly, and work well with others?
In some fields, it’s very common to create online portfolio websites. These are usually associated with artists, photographers, or video producers. In these fields, just having a resume isn’t enough. Anyone looking to hire you needs to see the work you are capable of, not just where you went to school and where you worked last.
However, you can apply this same logic to every job applicant in every field. As we all know from experience, a website can be anything. It can be a gallery of photographs, a writer’s portfolio of best works, or a sampling of successful business projects with graphs and charts. However you dream it, you can make it on the web.
When you think about it, not putting such a uniquely personal and customized item in front of a hiring manager is silly. If you want the job, an online website with a personal introduction is a surefire way to get an in-person interview. Anything you can do to tip the odds in your favor is worthwhile, especially if it’s a proven and effective tactic.
Statistics seem to bear this out. Hiring managers want to see more personal portfolios, and they regularly admit that they are memorable and catch their attention. But only a handful of applicants bother to put one together.
What Should a Personal Website Include?
So, we can agree that an online website is an important part of the job search process, but what does it need to include? Unfortunately, there’s no easy answer since all industries and job requirements differ. But if your site has one overarching theme, it should be, “What does the hiring manager want to see?”
Keep in mind that if an employer has come to your site, they’ve probably already had their interest piqued. Your job is then to seal the deal and not mess anything up.
Start by creating a mission or a focus for your site. Think about what you need to accomplish with it, who will see it, and how you intend to communicate with them. For most job applicants, this will include that you want to prove you are qualified for the job, good at what you do, and easy to work with.
Think about what your hiring manager would most like to see from an applicant. Can you share any work projects that prove you would be exceptional in this new job? At the very least, you can show that you can create a beautifully designed website that is free of errors! If you include examples of clear communications (writing, infographics, videos, or whatever it is you do) and some personal touches that show a little personality, then you’ll be on the right track.
Whatever you do, don’t overlook the small stuff. Spelling, grammar, and dead links matter! Keep your site design clean, simple, and professional. Don’t post things you don’t want an employer or potential employer to look at. Many professionals make multiple websites, each with its own focus and purpose.
Finally, make sure your website includes a follow up action of some sort. For a job applicant, it might be as simple as having your contact information at the bottom of each page. This way, if they’re inspired to call you in for an interview, it’s easy for them to do so.
How Do You Make a Website?
If all of this has you signing up for an HTML web-building course, hit pause on that. Making a website has never been easier, thanks to web-based design tools.
Pixpa has over 150+ professionally-designed templates to choose from. You can create a professional website easily and include any element you want – all with drag-and-drop ease of creation.
When compared to other website builders out there, Pixpa gives you more options and more flexibility. As you create online portfolio elements, you can progressively get more advanced. The possibilities are endless on the platform, and integrating complex content is much easier than doing it elsewhere.
However, the best thing about Pixpa is the ability to customize the content to meet your needs. You’ll have access to beautiful, professionally-made templates. But you also have the power to change anything quickly and easily to make it your own.
Conclusion
If you’re in the job market, there’s no reason not to have a personal website. It can be a portfolio or a simple introduction and polished application. But the ultimate goal is to provide you with a unique product that your potential employers will enjoy and remember. Once they’ve clicked your link, there should be no doubt that you’re a superstar with technology. You can build your own beautiful website, and you can communicate effectively. That’s an excellent place to start with a new employer, don’t you think?
